Summary of Part II

AuthorErnesto Sanchez
Pages93-95
93
SU MM A R Y O F PART II
(1) For FSIA purposes, the United States encompasses all continental and insular territory,
waters, and airspace subject to U.S. jurisdiction.
(A) U.S. territorial waters extend 12 nautical miles (i.e., just below 14 miles) beyond the
U.S. coastline.
(B) U.S. airspace consists of airspace over U.S. land and territorial waters.
(C) U.S. government properties and leaseholds abroad, such as diplomatic missions and
military bases, do not qualify as part of the United States for FSIA purposes.
(D) Foreign government properties and leaseholds located in the United States, such as
foreign diplomatic missions, qualify as part of the United States for FSIA purposes.
(2) e FSIA governs private civil actions against foreign states, their political subdivisions,
and their agencies or instrumentalities, which the statute collectively views as “foreign
states.”
(A) e FSIA does not apply to actions against diplomatic and consular ocers, inter-
national organizations and their ocials, and current or former ocials of foreign
governments.
(B) Actions against diplomatic and consular ocers, international organizations and
their ocials, and current or former ocials of foreign governments are governed
by separate bodies of law (e.g., law surrounding diplomatic immunity, common
law).
(C) Failure to assert foreign sovereign immunity in a motion to dismiss for lack of
subject matter jurisdiction before ling an initial responsive pleading, or as soon
as possible after assuming “foreign state” status once litigation is in progress, may
impliedly waive immunity and enable a case to proceed.
(D) W hether a party qualies as a “foreign state” for purposes of legal action under the
FSIA depends on whether the party qualied as such a “foreign state” at the time the
act underlying a dispute occurred, even if the party does not so qualify when litiga-
tion commences.
(E) Alternatively, a party can qualify as a “foreign state” for FSIA purposes if it has
assumed “foreign state” status after the conduct in question occurred and before or
even after litigation commences.
(F) For purposes of the FSIA’s provisions providing for removal of actions from state
to federal court and dening an agency or instrumentality of a foreign state as an
entity “a majority of whose shares or other ownership interest is owned by a foreign
ForSovImmunAct_book.indb 93 4/11/13 3:31 PM

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